


I See Your Light and the Dark Disappears

by familyofthieves



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-08-28 05:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16717355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/familyofthieves/pseuds/familyofthieves
Summary: The past changes their future in ways they never could have imagined, but living in the present made the unexpected worth it





	1. Fourteen Years Old

**Author's Note:**

> Just like that I’m back! I couldn’t wait to get this guy going once I figured out how I wanted to write this story. This one will be a little different from the first story. It will be a bunch of out of order one shots of the Preston/Logan family of their time in and after the bunker. I hope you all like this continuation and please let me know if you have any suggestions or if there is something you want to read with this little trio!

She entered the house and quickly closed the door behind keeping the cold autumn air outside.

“Hello, anybody home?” She called out as she hung up her coat.

“In here!” A voice shouted back.

Chills ran down her back at the sound so easily similar to a voice she hadn’t heard in years and to a moment just like this so long ago way before all of this began. She walked towards the source and found the teenage girl sitting on the couch in the living room. Her mess of auburn hair shielding her face as her eyes stayed focused on the laptop on her lap. It was eery how similar her sister and her daughter were. Often at a quick glance it was easy for her to mix them up and she could pretend that her sister was still with them.

The teenager picked up her head and looked at her with bright blue eyes breaking the mother from her thoughts. Those eyes were the one striking difference between the two most important girls in her life.

“You’re home early.” She commented before turning back to her laptop.

The older of the two flopped down upon the couch and laid her head on the teen’s shoulder with a dramatic sigh.

Her daughter let out a loud laugh, “long day at the office?”

“I swear each year the kids get more and more clueless and care less. And don’t even get me started on their writing! I couldn’t even get through one paper, I thought my head was going to explode.”

“That bad huh?”

She looked up with a dramatic groan, “You have no idea.”

“Do you want me to grade their papers for you?”

“No, I don’t want embarrass them because my 14 year old daughter is a better writer.”

“You mean almost 15.”

“Oh yes my mistake, my nearly 15 year old daughter is a better writer.”

“We can’t all have geniuses for a mother who can teach their kids how to care about history and write.”

“I wouldn’t call myself a genius, but…”

The two locked eyes and started to laugh.

“What are you working on?” The mother asked finally looking at the laptop.

“Science homework.” She said in a disgusted tone and stuck out her tongue.

“Don’t let Uncle Rufus and Aunt Jiya hear you talk like that.”

“This is only biology, nothing like the what they do.” She explained.

“Whatever you say.” She patted her daughters leg before sitting up and looking around the room. “Where’s your brother?”

The teen shrugged her shoulders her eyes already back on her work, “in his room I think.”

“Doing what?”

“His homework?”

“Did you bother to check on him when you two got home from school?” She sighed.

“We shared a snack!” She exclaimed looking up at her mother.

“Do I want to know what that snack was?”

The daughter gave a guilty look and quickly looked back down at her laptop.

“Well I hope whatever it was it didn’t ruin your appetite. Your dad is bringing home dinner and everyone is coming over.”

The teenager closed her laptop, her interest finally fully engaged in the conversation. “Everyone is coming over? Why?”

“It’s been 10 years since our last mission and we wanted to celebrate.”

“10 years really?” Her eyes grew wide with shock. 

“I know I can’t believe it either. It feels like just yesterday we were jumping in that lifeboat.”

They shared a smile before the girl asked, “when you say everyone you mean?”

“Uncle Rufus, Aunt Jiya, Dede, and Mason.”

“Is Flynn coming?”

“Yes even Flynn.”

“No way! We haven’t seen Flynn in like…forever!”

“I know, 10 years is kind of a big deal and he decided to grant us with his presence.”

“We should have 10 year anniversaries more often then.” 

“I think once a decade is enough.”

Her daughter shrugged her shoulders and placed her laptop on the coffee table in front of them. 

“Did you have a good childhood?” The mother asked suddenly, her fingers absentmindedly going to the locket around her neck.

The daughter shot her a confused look, “that’s kind of random? And I mean I know I’m a teenager now, but aren’t I still kind of growing up?”

“Well yes and please don’t feel the need to rush this part of your life either. But you didn’t exactly have the most traditional start to life.”

“You mean the first five years living in a bunker with seven adults while you and dad traveled to the past to try and stop and evil group of people?”

She let out a small laugh, “yes that.”

The teenager shrugged her shoulders again, “I mean yeah of course I did. Other than you and Dad leaving, I loved our life. Granted I didn’t know any better and that was my normal. But it was fun.”

“Do you remember it?”

“What living in the bunker?” She sighed and lowered herself down to rest her head on her mother’s lap. “Honestly not much, just random bits and pieces here and there. I was only five when we left.”

Her free hand immediately went to caress the soft curls, “And I am so thankful that we defeated Rittenhouse when we did. Your dad and I got raise you in an actual house with an actual yard without worrying about for our safety, plus start you in school on time.”

“I think I would have been perfectly fine being home schooled, still do actually.” She teased. “You guys would have given me a much better education than the public school system.”

The mother rolled her eyes, “maybe, but there is more to school than education. You needed to learn to interact with kids your own age too.”

“Eh I would have figured it out eventually, it’s not that hard to learn out how teenagers work.”

“Can you let me in on that because I never figured it out even when I was a teenager.”

“No can do Mom, gotta keep that secret safe.”

“So there’s a teenage code?”

“Of course. They don’t mention it though in history books, that’s why you probably missed it.”

She shook her head and looked down at her daughter. Even after all these years it amazed her that she and her husband had created this beautiful girl. Who somehow turned out to be strong and healthy even with the unusual upbringing. 

“I remember that day.” The teen quietly said.

“You do?” She asked surprised.

“Well not in full detail, but I have the general outline. I remember being so excited when you came out of the lifeboat and said Rittenhouse was defeated. I was so excited I ran straight into Daddy’s arms even though he hadn’t showered yet. But no one yelled at him because everyone was so happy it was over. You joined in on the hug too. Actually I think everyone did.”

“Yeah I’m pretty sure it was a giant group hug.”

“And then you and Daddy took forever in the shower and I just wanted you guys out because I wanted to be with you. Aunt Jiya practically had to hold me down to get me to wait.”

“But that didn’t work too well because you came bolting to the bedroom as soon as you saw us walking down the hallway.”

“Can you blame me? I was finally going to get to be with you in this time period forever.”

“No I guess not. Your dad and I were pretty excited about that too. We hated having to leave you when we went on a mission.”

“And then you had to go and send me to school where we were apart for 8 hours a day.” She sighed dramatically. 

“You make it seem like we tortured you. Besides we were going to have to be apart because your father and I had to go back to work.”

“No Dad went back to work, you didn’t go back for a few more years. And even now you don’t work every day.”

“You always have a counter point don’t you?”

The teen turned her head and gave her mother a big smile. The mother removed her hand from her daughter’s hair to gently shake her shoulder causing her to laugh loudly.

“What’s so funny?” A new voice asked.

The two immediately stopped and looked up at the source. Neither of them had heard him enter the room let alone the house.

“Hi Dad!” The girl smiled. “We’ve just been reminiscing about our bunker days.”

He made eye contact with his wife and she quickly said, “it’s been all good memories don’t worry.”

“Well you better save some more of those good memories for dinner. You don’t want to share them all now before the team comes over.”

“Which shouldn’t be too long now.” She added. “Lydia why don’t you go set the table.”

“But what about my bio homework? Unless you want to write me a note saying I wasn’t able to complete it because we were having a save the world anniversary dinner.”

“You can finish it after you set the table.”

The teenager let out a dramatic sigh and lifted herself off of her mother’s lap. “Fine!”

“Oh and tell your brother to help me bring in the food, there’s a lot of it in the car.”

“Have you gone weak in your old age Dad that you can’t carry in take out.” 

Before she could run away he quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. She let out a loud squeal, but didn’t try to break away.

“I’m not weak, I’ve just learned to take advantage of the two young children I have in my house to do the work I don’t like to do.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

He gave her an extra squeeze and kissed her head, “just go tell your brother.”

As soon as he let go she scampered off in the direction of the stairs. The parents shared a half amused half annoyed look when they heard her yelling directions at her younger sibling instead of going upstairs to his room.

“Should I even bother scolding her?” He asked his wife.

“There’s no point, she’s just going to do it again anyway.” She sighed and pushed herself off of the couch.

She immediately fell into his waiting arms and he securely wrapped himself around her.

“How are you feeling, honestly?” He asked.

“Honestly…I don’t know. I’m always so happy on this day because we finally got our freedom back, but it also reminds me of all that we lost and can never get back.”

“I know.” He sighed. 

“I can’t believe it’s been 10 years.”

“Me neither, where did the time go?”

“I feel I should be able to answer that with the amount of time traveling that we did.”

He let out a chuckle and paused before saying, “ We earned this life Lucy. Even if we weren’t able to save everyone, we worked so hard to make sure history stayed mostly intact so that there would be a good present and an even better future. You don’t need to feel guilty for being happy.”

“How do you always know what I am thinking?” She asked looking up at him.

“After sixteen years you’re an open book babydoll.”

“Only for you sweetheart.”

He leaned his head down just enough to capture her lips with his own. Before the kiss could go any farther a loud groan of disgust caused them to break apart.

“Must you do that in the living room?” Their son asked a sour look upon his face.

“Yes we must, this is what two people do when they are in love.” The father replied not breaking his hold of his wife.

The young boy pouted his lips, not happy with the answer. 

“Did you get the food from the car?” She asked.

“I tried, but the door is locked.”

“Keys are on the hook kid. And after you’re finished with that help your sister finish setting up too.”

“Do I have too?” He whined.

“Yes, everyone is coming over soon and you’ve played enough video games tonight.”

“Fine.” He sighed and marched off in the direction of the car keys. 

The two parents shared a look and tried not to laugh at their overly dramatic son.

“You still enjoying freedom ma’am?” He asked with a teasing smile.

“With my reckless hot head by my side and two crazy but amazing kids, how could I not?”


	2. Two Weeks Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your kind words! I’m glad so many of you came over and want to read about this little family. In honor of Christmas and that AMAZING two hours we just got I decided to do a little five days of Christmas. Please enjoy!

She couldn’t remember the last time she had been this excited about Christmas. The past few years something had happened causing her to loose the spirit of the holiday. Not like anyone could blame her, it was hard to stay cheerful right after the man who raised you passed away or when your mother was sick and dying or your sister didn’t exist or just being trapped in a dark bunker. 

This year was different though, this year she got to celebrate the holiday with her daughter for the first time. Sure the baby wasn’t even a month old had no clue what was going on, but that didn’t make her less excited. She knew he felt the same way too. It had been even longer since he had a good Christmas, which made it even more important to make this one perfect. 

Their boss had gotten them a fake tree the year before along with ornaments and lights. If she had things her way it would have been up the day after Thanksgiving, but Rittenhouse had other plans calling the men away. She felt that she had waited long enough though and as soon as December 1st rolled around and no sirens blared she forced everyone into the living space ready to decorate. 

The new mother got them all into the holiday spirit with music and coffee while they put together the tree. Of course the baby was in her arms the entire time wearing an adorable baby’s first Christmas outfit and with a little red bow in her black curls. This little girl spent more time in the arms of an adult than down. 

Everyone was in love with the infant and wanted to hold or cuddle her. The new parents were on slightly worried about how spoiled their daughter was, but not enough to stop anything. The baby was a bright spot in all of their lives and who was she to deny them something pure to help forget the evil they encountered.

“What do you think Lydia?” She whispered into the baby’s ear holding her up to see all the commotion.

“I don’t think she has a clue what is going on.” The father laughed.

“Doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy the pretty lights.” She responded back. 

She positioned herself on the couch to oversee the decorating while making sure her daughter had a good view too.

“Are you going to help us out, after all you were the one who was gung-ho about getting everything up.” Her friend commented when he noticed her sitting. 

“Maybe in a moment.” She explained and tried to adjust herself on the couch to find a comfortable position. 

“Are you okay?” The other man asked worriedly pausing what he was doing.

“Yeah I’m fine, just normal aches.” She reassured.

Ever since the birth he had been extra attentive to her. Any little discomfort or need she had he was there to help her. And that didn’t even begin to touch upon all that he was doing for their daughter. She was eternally thankful for his doting especially during the first few days post birth and late at night when it was hard for her to get out of bed. 

She knew he was also trying to make up for all those hours he missed with their baby. She knew it wasn’t easy for him to leave the two of them behind, she could see the pain in his eyes every time he got on that lifeboat. She hated having to watch him go too and clung to their daughter until he was safely back. Only then would he willingly let go of the baby knowing he needed her more. 

She couldn’t imagine what it was like to have to leave their daughter behind, it was sometimes hard for her to leave her in a separate room. She was already dreading the day that her maternity leave ended and would have to get back in that machine. She knew it was still months away, but that thought was always in the back of her mind. 

“Are you sure because I can…” he continued to check.

“Yes I’m sure. I just need a moment to sit and then I’ll be ready to get this place looking like Santa’s workshop.” She smiled trying to convey to him that she wasn’t lying.

“And how are you going to do that a baby in your arms?” Their friend asked butting into the conversation.

She shrugged her shoulders, “I’ll figure it out. It’s amazing the things you can suddenly do with a baby in your arms.”

“Especially you.” The father teased.

If she didn’t have a baby in her arms she would have smacked him, “hey I’m not clumsy all the time.”

The two men in the room shared a look and both had to bite their lips from laughing. 

“Do you see how mean they are to me Lydia.” She whispered into the baby’s ear, “I’m gonna need you to always be in on my side. I need someone to help me get back at Daddy and Uncle Rufus.”

“Don’t listen to her Lydia, Mommy knows how to defend herself on her own just fine.”

His eyes met her’s and twinkled with such delight that she couldn’t stay mad at him for long. 

“I found another box of decoration.” Their other friend said coming into the room with a big brown box in hand. 

She plopped it done on the table a little too hard causing the baby to let out a small cry. 

“I’m so sorry Lydie!” Their friend cooed quickly coming over the apologize to the baby. 

The mother bounced her gently in her arms until the infant settled back down. 

“How is it possible for her to continue to be cute even when she’s crying?” The other woman asked as she ran a finger down the soft cheek.

“Cute until it’s the middle of the night and all you want to do is sleep, but she decides it’s a good time to test out her vocal cords.” The new father commented as he went back to decorating the tree.

“Yeah those constant early wake up calls aren’t so cute.” She agreed.

“Nor are those disgusting diapers.” He added on with a shudder.

“You know you two are amazing at selling parenthood.” Their guy friend joked.

“Thankfully with the bad and gross we get to look at something really cute all day.” She smiled looking down at the baby in her arms.

The infant squirmed a bit and gave her mother a smile. She was already their pride and joy, which was still crazy to her. She hadn’t even been in this earth for a full month and she had them wrapped around her tiny finger. She wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Not able to resist it anymore she brought the baby up to her lips and gave her a kiss on the head. It was insane how much she loved this little girl. 

“So where do you want all that stuff?” Their friend asked pointing to the new box.

She shrugged her shoulders, “doesn’t matter, anywhere that you think looks good.”

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you.” The father asked coming over to the couch.

“Just a little.” She smiled back.

As much as she would love to get in on the decorating it was a lot more enjoyable and relaxing watching all her friends do it. Plus with a brand new baby in her arm how could she not? Motherhood was slowly teaching her to sit back and relax when she needed to and let others finish the work that she was unable to. 

The baby didn’t seem to have the same sentiment as her mother though and her cries started to grow louder. 

“It’s okay baby.” She cooed trying to get her to calm back down.

“I think she’s jealous that she has to watch all the fun and doesn’t get to take part on it.” He said and signaled that he wanted the infant. “Come here bug.” He lifted his daughter into his arms and carried her closer to the tree. 

“Is that it? Were you jealous?” He laughed as the cries instantly stopped. “Don’t worry you can help out now. We’ll let Mommy rest and you can help Daddy turn this ugly bunker into a Christmas wonderland.”

She leaned forward and rested her head in her hands, a large smile on her face. Seeing him hold their daughter still made her heart flutter. 

Her friends, now turned family, went about decorating their living space making the bleak area sparkle with lights and glitter. After she lost her sister she never thought she would have a reason to smile on Christmas. But in this moment with her new family and baby she knew that she would never have to worry about having a lonely holiday season again.


	3. One Year Old

Crying was what woke them up. Not like that was unusual or anything, they had been woken up by that sound countless times for over a year now. Their daughter had gotten better in that time period and had allowed the parents to get a full nights rest a majority of time, but it didn’t look like that was happening this morning.

“Lydia go back to sleep.” He moaned trying to reason with the one year old. He opened his eyes just enough to look at the time on his phone, “it’s only 5:00 A.M.”

Her only response was to cry louder from her crib. 

“Doesn’t look like that’s happening.” She said and would have laughed if she wasn’t so tired.

When he made no hint of moving and the wails continued. She forced herself out of bed, but not before smacking his arm for being lazy. Blearily she walked over to the crib where almost instantly the crying stopped. 

“Is that all you want attention?” She asked and she picked her baby up.

Her daughter sniffled a little and with a smile snuggled into her mother’s arms. She shook her head in disbelief and gave the needy girl a kiss on the head.

“What do you say can you let Mommy and Daddy sleep a little bit more?”

Easily she got back into bed and cuddled close to the father and held the one year old close to her chest. She felt him sling an arm around both and them as she closed her eyes. It seemed like their daughter had other plans though as she started to wiggle and whine trying to get out of her parents’ grasp.

“Lydia!” They both sighed in exasperation. 

She eased up on her hold and instantly the baby worked her way over to her father where she flopped onto his chest with a giggle. 

“What do you want this morning bug?” He popped open an eye to see the adorable smiling face looking back at him.

They found it hard to stay mad at her for long. All she had to do was flash those big blue eyes and that toothy grin and their hearts melted. If they didn’t build up an immune system soon they were going to be in a lot of trouble when she was older.

“She must be excited for Christmas.” She suggested rolling onto her side to look at them.

“She’s only 13 months old, how does she know it’s Christmas?”

“Because every child knows when it’s Christmas morning no matter what age they are.” She playfully poked her daughters side and was rewarded with the most beautiful sound in the world, her giggles. “Do you know that Santa came last night?”

“Yeah and Santa was up way too late getting all those presents ready and would really like an extra few minutes of sleep.” He grumbled, which earned him another smack on the arm.

“Oh hush, you don’t want to spoil the secret yet.”

“Again she’s 13 months old, I don’t think she fully understands what we are saying.”

“Stop being such a spoil sport, it’s Christmas!”

While this wasn’t their daughter’s first Christmas, it was going to be a lot more fun. Last year she was a one month old who couldn’t even hold her head up without adult support. But this year they had a very mobile baby who’s eyes lit up as she tried to examine all the decorations, with both her hands and mouth. Hence the reason for the last minute wrapping. The baby found a way into everything these days and they didn’t want her opening her’s or anyone else’s gifts until the morning of.

“Well maybe if someone let me sleep in I wouldn’t be such a Grinch.” He lifted the baby high above their heads causing her to squeal loudly. “Can’t you be this excited in an hour or two?” He playfully asked and he gently shook her in the air.

She laughed loudly at her father’s antics and enjoying all of the attention. He lowered her back down to his chest and kissed the top of her head. It seemed like she finally got the message of sleep as she closed her eyes and snuggled into his arms.

The parents shot each other a thankful smile ready to try and get some more rest. She pulled herself in close and put an arm around her family. While waking up early on days she didn’t have to was not fun, she did love early more cuddles with them.

Just as she was about to fall back to sleep their daughter seemed to remember the real reason why she woke up and let out a loud cry causing both parents to jump.

“She must be hungry.” She commented with a groan.

“You want to go get her a bottle?” He asked as he tried to soothe the one year old.

“You’re already holding her and we don’t want to make her to wait any longer.”

“I already miss the days where she could latch onto you and be fed.” He grumbled as he pushed himself up.

“Sorry as much as I would have like to have kept going that restaurant is officially closed for business. Plus pumping in the past was not enjoyable. I’m not upset about that being over.”

He sighed and looked to the crying baby in his arms, “alright Lydie Bug lets go get you breakfast.”

She propped herself up onto her elbow to get a good look at her little family. “You know you both look adorable.”

“I’m not sure adorable is how I want to feel.” He said looking down at his pajamas. 

As a joke gift their friends had bought the family matching Christmas pajamas. Of course she was beyond excited to see baby and father dressed up in the same outfit, but he was less than thrilled. He put them on though for her. 

“Blame it on the baby in your arms then.” She smiled, “but without her you would look very sexy.”

He raised his eyebrows, “really?”

“Yes really. And you know I’m working on Jiya and Rufus taking her tonight so you and I could do a little celebrating of our own.”

At the moment their daughter let out a loud wail unhappy with the lack of progress of getting her food.

“Hold that thought.” He quickly said and ran out of the bedroom.

She laughed to herself and plopped down onto the mattress. Even with all the trials and troubles they’ve had she’d never been happier. She had the perfect man and a beautiful baby girl whom she loved with all of her heart. It didn’t matter that they were trapped in an underground bunker because they were all together and life could only get better. 

“Don’t tell me you already fell back asleep.” She heard him say as he entered back into the bedroom.

The baby in his arms was finally content and quiet as she firmly grasped the bottle. 

She sat up and smiled, “No I was just thinking.”

“About what?” 

He joined her back in the bed and put their daughter between them. She gave her mother a smile, the bottle not leaving her mouth. She smiled back and attempt to smooth down the unruly morning curls. 

“About how much I love you two.”

“Really?” He asked with a big goofy grin on his face.

She looked up to meet his eyes, “yes really!”

“Good because I love you too, both of you.”

He leaned forward to give her a proper good morning kiss which sent shivers all down her body. It had been over a year since she had said her feelings out loud to him and even longer since he’d said it to her. Yet somehow time didn’t matter for those three little words. It still made her heart flutter whenever they said I love you. 

Not to mention the kisses and then some. She hoped she never grew immune to those kisses. They’d shared countless since the day their daughter was born, but they always made her go weak at the knees and left her wanting more.

“So about tonight?” He asked pulling away with a sly smile.

“No promises yet, but I am trying really hard to get them to take her. They got to celebrate on Christmas Eve anyway so I think they can put up with a baby for one night.”

“We could just put her in their room at bedtime and then flee. You know they won’t enter our room if the door is closed.” He put his mouth right next to her ear and whispered, “especially if I make you scream loud enough.”

“Wyatt!” She scolded, or tried to as he continued to pepper kisses around the side of her neck. 

“To be continued tonight.” He smirked finally pulling away.

She gave him a fake evil look, but that only caused his smile to grow. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she was thinking the same thing. It wasn’t easy getting a night alone with him and any special occasion or spare time they could pawn the baby off on someone they took advantage of. 

“What do you think Lydia? Can you be extra cute for Aunt Jiya and Uncle Rufus today so you can have a sleep over?” She asked the baby.

Their daughter gave them a big smile causing milk to dribble down her chin.

“Oh yeah that’s going to win them over right there!” He laughed.

She just shook her head and used the sheet to clean off the milk. 

“Well no matter what happens tonight, at least we have the entire day to spend together as a family.” She smiled and propped up the pillow so that she could fully sit up in bed. 

He followed her lead, all hopes of going back to sleep were lost. He picked their daughter back up and placed her on his lap and then put an arm around his other girl’s shoulder to bring her in close.

“Merry Christmas Lucy.” He murmured and kissed the top of her head.

“Merry Christmas.”

She laid her head against his shoulder and looked down at their baby. It might have been an ghastly early hour, but she didn’t care anymore. This was exactly how she wanted to start the holiday. With her family cuddled in close together in bed, matching pajamas and all.


	4. Two Years Ols

‘‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the bunker everyone was stirring, including the toddler. It felt like Rittenhouse was trying to crush their holiday spirit this season as the team kept having to jump over and over again. Just as they would settle down from their mission and start to decorate the stupid alarm would start to blare and they would have to drop everything to go save history.

As a result everything was left to the very last minute. That didn’t stop her though from going all out. It was now their third Christmas with their daughter and this year she almost seemed to get it. No longer was she an observer to the holiday traditions, but an active, and very vocal, participant. Everything her parents did she wanted to take part in too, and she wasn’t afraid to let them know either. 

The adults spent almost as much time corralling and pleasing the two year old as they did decorating the place. She was either in someone’s arms helping hang a decoration or rearranging their hard work. It was only when she passed out on the couch, after much protest of course, did the adults finally get their living quarters looking like Christmas.

They hadn’t been kidding when they talked about their terrible twos, and they were only a month in! It was lucky their daughter was cute though, or else her actions would have been a lot more annoying. No one was able to stop laughing or smiling as she ran and spun around the living room in a red dress and knee high black socks. Her now brown curls bouncing up and down behind her. It was hard to stay mad at her for long, even as she destroyed their hard work.

They did eventually finish at a reasonable hour and everyone got to relax and enjoy their hard work. After all their running around it was nice to finally break and enjoy the moment of being together. The toddler even got the message and was content sitting on a lap or playing with her toys on the floor.

Even bedtime went a lot smoother than it had the past few nights. The parents had let their daughter stay up later than usual, it was Christmas Eve after all. After setting out cookies and milk for Santa they went about their normal routine of getting her ready for bed, complete with an extra story. 

They had just gotten her tucked in and her eyes fully closed when the alarm blared once again. The mother was quick to put the bright pink headphones on the toddler and pick her up all without waking her. 

“Why?” She groaned as she looked at her partner, a worried look on her face.

“Let’s just got see where they went this time.” He commented and put a comforting hand on her back to lead their family back out into the living space.

“Couldn’t they give us this one night off.” She continued unable to control her anxiety or anger.

He looked just as upset as her, but was unable to find the words that would give her the comfort she so desired.

“Where did they jump to this time?” He asked once they were in the main room. 

“London, December 18, 1843.” Their friend read off from the monitor.

“That’s the day before Charles’s Dickerson’s A Christmas Carol was released.” She immediately replied.

“You think Rittenhouse is trying to stop that book from coming out?” He asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, “I guess. I mean Christmas as we know it is heavily influenced because of that book.”

“Why would they want to destroy Christmas?” Their other friend asked.

“Because Rittenhouse is a real Scourge.” She mumbled bitterly. 

She wanted to use a stronger word, but she did not like to use that type of language around her daughter, even if she was asleep. Her language skills were really taking off and she was parroting whatever the adults said, both the good and the bad.

“So we go back in time, make sure they’re able to publish this book and save Christmas. How appropriate.”

Her partner could see how upset she still was and pulled her away from the group.

“You don’t have to go Lucy.” He told her once they were out of ear shot of their friends.

“Yes I do, I can’t leave you without a historian. I don’t even have any books on Dickens to help you out. You need me.”

“We would figure it out. If you rather be here with Lydia than go to 1843 London everyone would understand.”

“But then I would be worrying about you the entire time and if you can save Christmas.” She let out a frustrated groan. “I can’t believe Rittenhouse is making us save Christmas on Christmas Eve.”

“I think I know someone who is getting a lump of coal in their stocking this year.” He tried to joke, but it did nothing to ease her.

“Why did they have to do this tonight, out of all the other nights? This is one of the few days a year where we can make our lives resemble something normal.” She continued unable to control her anger anymore. “I just want Lydia to have good memories to look back on when she is older and not just this dark bunker. I don’t want them to ruin our Christmas because of their stupid agenda.”

“We won’t let that happen Lucy.” He said pulling his family into his arms.

“How do you know?”

“Because everyone wants today to be special for Lydia. We will do everything in our power to stop Rittenhouse from whatever their evil plan is and save the day…again.”

“I just don’t want Lydia to wake up on Christmas morning and us not be there. I know she’s only two, but…”

“I know and I promise you we will do everything in our power to make it back in time. She probably won’t even notice that we are gone. She did tire herself out today pretty hard. Not to mention the major sugar crash from all the sweets everyone kept sneaking her.”

She finally cracked a smile at that know all that he said was true.

“You promise we’ll be back in time?” She asked looking up at him.

“I promise. We’ll be in and out faster than you can say bah humbug.”

She gave him a small nod and leaned up to give him a thankful kiss on the lips. No matter what the situation was or how trivial her feelings and fears were he always knew exactly what to stay to keep her calm and focused.

“Lydia.” She whispered trying to wake the toddler up.

Their daughter whimpered and tried to ignore her mother.

“Come on bug, you gotta get up for a bit.” He said and plucked his daughter out of her arms.

She opened her eyes blearily clearly unhappy with the wake up call. They hated having to do this, but they had vowed to always give their daughter a proper goodbye even if it meant disturbing her sleep schedule. It was better for everyone if she got to see her parents off, they had learned that one the hard way.

“Mommy and Daddy have to go baby.” She whispered making sure to keep the two year old awake.

“No.” She whined and buried her head into her father’s neck.

“I’m afraid so bug. But we’ll be back before Santa comes.”

That managed to perk her up, “Santa!” She whispered in amazement.

“Yes Santa. Now be a good girl for Aunt Jiya and Dede okay?” She asked her daughter.

The toddler nodded her head in agreement. The father gave her a final squeeze and a kiss on her head before passing her back to her mother.

The pair walked back over to the main group.

“You two ready?” Their friend asked already inside of the Lifeboat.

“As ready as one can be on Christmas Eve.” He commented.

She gave her daughter a final goodbye kiss before passing her over to her pseudo grandmother. 

“Don’t worry Lucy, we’ll make sure she goes right back to sleep.” Her boss said easily taking the child into her arms.

“I know.” She replied, though made to motion of moving or removing her hand from her daughter’s back.

“And if she doesn’t, we’ll just put on another Christmas movie and feed her more cookies so she’ll be all wired when you come back.” Her friend chimed and took the anxious mother’s hands into her own before turning to the toddler. “Can you say bye Lydie?”

“Bye bye.” Her daughter parroted, complete with a hand wave.

“Bye baby.” Said said with a teary smile.

She gave one final look at the two women in charge of her baby. There was no one else she would trust to take care of her daughter and it comforted her knowing that everything at home was going to be fine. Before she could change her mind she gave the toddler one last kiss on the head and ran towards the lifeboat without a final glance.

“You ready?” Her partner asked helping her get buckled in.

“As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go save Christmas.”


	5. Three Years Old

He had woken up in the middle of the night with the feeling that something was not right. He opened his eyes to see his main girl wrapped securely in his arms still sound asleep. He immediately knew that wasn’t the cause of his unease. Carefully so not to disturb her he sat up to check on his other girl and knew he had found the source of his tension.

The three year old was sitting up in her bed, something that was unusual. If she woke up from a bad dream or simply had trouble sleeping she had no problem waking her parents up or just worming her way into their bed. He immediately knew something was not right with the way she was silently sitting.

“Are you okay Lydia?” He whispered loud enough so she could hear, but not wake her mother.

The small child shook her head no. 

“Do you want to come into bed with us?” He asked.

This time she shook her head and after a moment she pushed herself off the toddler bed and crossed the short distance to him. He easily picked her up and placed her in the middle tucking her right in between him and her mother. Something still did not feel right though and she snuggled down farther into the sheets. After a moment he realized his daughter was shaking beside him.

“Are you cold bug?” He asked.

Once again she nodded her head. The bunker was always cold, especially in the winter, but they always made sure to dress her in clothes that would keep her comfortable. His paternal instincts were in over drive now as he placed the back of his hand to her forehead. He shouldn’t have been surprised when he felt the heat radiating off of her.

“Lucy wake up.” He said urgently shaking her shoulder.

He turned on the light on the night side table to get a better look. This time he wasn’t surprised to see the pale face and bright red cheeks looking up at him.

“What?” His partner groaned.

“Feel Lydia’s head, I think she has a fever.”

That instantly had the mother awake. She rolled over in bed and placed her lips to her daughter’s forehead. 

“She’s burning up.” She gasped looking worriedly at him. “She wasn’t sick when we put her to bed was she?”

He thought back for a moment trying to remember. “No she was fine. Causing mass chaos as usual up until we told her it was time. Then refusing to go to bed until Rufus and Jiya and Flynn told her Christmas stories.”

The mother nodded her head in agreement. “I’m going to get the thermometer and children’s Tylenol.”

She gave their daughter one final kiss on the head before jumping out of bed and running to their closet. He sat up straighter and pulled the child into his chest.

“No Mommy.” The three year old said speaking for the first time upon seeing what was in store for her.

“I’m afraid so baby.” She sighed and sat back down on the bed. “Open.”

He held her close as she slid the thermometer into the tiny mouth.

After the beep she pulled it out and read, “100.3”

“No Mommy.” Their daughter repeated again knowing what was coming next.

She didn’t listen though and took the medicine out of the box. She carefully read the directions and poured the correct amount in.

“This is the last of it.” She commented.

“We’ll find a way to pick more up tomorrow if the fever doesn’t go away.” He responded. 

He hoped that it was a one night thing, but he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that simple.

“Open up Lydia.” She said in her most soothing voice to the child.

“No!” She cried and tried to squirm away from her parents.

He held her down tight though so she could not escape the bed. 

“Come on bug the sooner you take this the sooner you can go back to sleep.” He tried to reason.

“No!” She screamed again the tears starting to form in her eyes.

The parents shared a look and quickly took action. As gently as possible he forced their daughter’s mouth open while she quickly poured the liquid into her mouth. 

“Swallow it.” He ordered in his well practiced dad voice. 

She did follow through and instantly burst into real tears.

“You did it baby that’s it.” She comforted and handed the three year old her water bottle.

“Yucky.” She shuddered between sips of water.

“I know baby, but it will help you feel better.” She soothed again gently rubbing her back.

Once the child had enough water she passed it back to her mother and let out a big yawn. He helped adjust her so that when they both lied down her head was resting in his chest and tucked the blankets up around her chin. It didn’t take long from there for her to fall back asleep. His partner curled in close as well resting her head upon his pillow. 

To no ones surprise when the adults fully woke up that morning their daughter still had a fever. Thankfully it hadn’t gone up, but it hadn’t gone down either. She’s instantly texted her boss explaining the situation and after a quick change of clothes and shoving something edible into her mouth she was ready to go.

“We’ll be fine.” He promised her, their child still sound asleep on his chest.

She nodded her head in agreement and placed a kiss on his lips and their daughter’s head. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket and she instantly knew who it was.

“Christopher is here. If she gets worse…”

“I promise to call and you and Christopher will be right back.” He repeated back the directions she had given to him multiple times since they woke up.

“Right. I promise to be as fast as possible. Bye.” 

She picked the baseball cap off of one of the many wall cubbies and quickly ran out of the room.

When she arrived back only an hour later she was greeted with the cutest sight, or it would have been if she didn’t know that her baby was sick. The child must have woken up at some point while she was out because she was now sitting up and wrapped in a blanket. Father and daughter were still curled close together watching something on his laptop.

“How are we doing?” She asked walking all the way into the room.

“The same I think.” He instantly answered. “She wouldn’t eat anything, but I did get her to drink some orange juice and water.”

“What are you watching?” She asked the three year old.

“Charlie Brown Christmas.” She responded not taking her eyes off of the screen.

“Who picked that movie out?”

“I did! It’s Christmas!”

She couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter’s innocence. Even when sick she was all about the holiday that was only a few short days away. Unfortunately she had to pause the movie which caused whines of protests from the small child.

“You need to take more medicine.” She explained holding up the new bottle.

“No Mommy that’s yucky!” She answered back.

She looked around the room trying to find an escape, but once again her father had a firm grasp on her.

“Don’t you want to feel better Lydia?” He asked.

She thought hard for a moment taking the question vey seriously. The two parents had to bite their lips to stop themselves from laughing at the serious pout that appeared across her face.

“I got you a treat.” She continued.

Instantly the serious face dropped and her eyes shone at the word treat. From behind her back she pulled out the signature red and white holiday Starbuck’s cup. He made sure to show extra large excitement to keep up the momentum.

“I got you hot chocolate, but you can only have it if you take your medicine.”

The three year old let out a very dramatic sigh, “fine.”

“You’re such a good girl.” Her father praised her as the pair watched the dreaded Tylenol be poured into the plastic cup.

Without being asked she opened her mouth up wide and allowed her mother to pour the liquid in. She swallows quickly, a disgusted look on her face, and held out her hands for the cup.

“Water first.” He instructed and handed her the water bottle.

She eagerly took that and swallowed the liquid. “It nasty.”

“Where did you learn that word from?” The mother asked unable to control her laugh.

“Hot chocolate please?” She ignored as she pushed the water bottle into her father’s hands and held out her own for the red cup.

“Of course baby. I’m so proud of you!”

She eagerly took a sip, “it yummy!”

“I bet it is. Hopefully that and the medicine will help you feel better.” He smiled and pushed as the unruly curls that were sticking to her brow.

“Play please.” She said pointing to the laptop.

“Of course since you asked so nicely.”

With her cup of hot chocolate and movie playing she snuggled back into her father’s side, her eyes once again glued to the Christmas movie. He couldn’t help but smile at how cute their daughter was kissed the top of her head once again. When he looked up though he caught the eyes of a very worried mother.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“She’s sick.” Was all she said still sitting in front of the pair on the bed.

“Yeah, but at least she’s in good spirits. Besides I thought we wanted her exposed to germs to build up her immune system.”

“I know we do, but…”she let out a long sigh. “I feel awful, she’s sick so close to Christmas.”

He quickly took her hands into his, “hey it’s going to be okay. I’m sure this is some childhood thing and will blow over quickly. We have all of today to get her good and rested for Christmas.”

“And what if she isn’t better by tomorrow?”

“Then we’ll take her to the doctor and maybe they can give her something to help.”

“No doctor!” The little girl shouted not taking her eyes off her screen.

“Hopefully not, you want to be all better for Santa right?” She asked trying not to laugh. Of course that was what she picked up on.

She finally picked her head up to look directly at her other, “Santa’s coming?”

“Not yet. Remember we have two more days to go. Just like on our advent calendar.”

The small child nodded her head, though neither adult knew how much of that she actually got, and went back to the movie. Her attention was long gone after she heard no Santa.

“See she’s going to be fine.” He smiled bringing her attention back to their conversation. “Whatever her body is fighting off will pass and she will be able to fully enjoy the holiday.”

She let out a sigh again, “I know you’re probably right, but…”

“You just want Lydia to have good and normal memories.” He finished for her. “And she will. Even if she’s still sick we’ll improvise to make sure the day is special. Okay?”

“Okay.” She replied, but he could tell she still wasn’t convinced. 

He leaned forward, careful of the child and her drink to give her a kiss on the lips.

“Relax and believe in the magic of Christmas.” He smiled as he pulled away.

She gave him a skeptical look, “that sounds like something I would say.”

“Well after four years of working together, three years of raising a child together and being an actual couple, you were bound to rub off on me at some point.” He teased.

“Mommy sit here and watch Christmas Snoopy!” Their daughter demanded bringing them back down.

While still holding her cup of hot chocolate and eyes still on the laptop she patted the spot beside her on the bed where she wanted her mother to sit. At that look both parents lost it.

“Yes Ma’am.” She said and quickly followed her daughter’s instructions.

“Hey that’s my line.” He said in fake anger.

She shrugged her shoulders, “What can I say, you’ve rubbed off on me too.”


	6. Four Years Old

Christmas Eve day was a flurry of activity once again. She would have thought by now they would have had some sort of idea of what to expect, but each year it was a brand new experience. As their daughter grew so did their experiences and they had to change everything once again.

This year as a four year old she fully got Christmas and all that came with it. She was an active participant, in a positive way too. She genuinely wanted to help out the adults in the bunker and had ideas and thoughts that were helpful and not destructive. 

Mother and daughter had spent the majority of their day baking and decorating cookies for Santa, place and bake of course, while singing along to all the Christmas songs played over the speakers. Dinner was a full bunker family affair as well, with take out. And the entire day came to a close with everyone watching movies until it was time for the small child to go to sleep. 

She had begged her parents for two stories that night, one normal book and a Christmas book, which they gave into…they usually did. 

“Good night Lydia.” Her mother said tucking in the blankets around her daughter. “The sooner you go to sleep the sooner Santa will come.”

“Mommy, is Santa going to come?” The four year old asked, a serious look upon her face.

“Of course why wouldn’t he? You’ve been good this year right?” She responded without skipping a beat.

The child thought for a moment before answering, “I think so.”

“Then why wouldn’t be come?”

“Because how does he know where we live?”

The mother looked over at her partner hoping for support on this.

“What do you mean?” He asked picking up on her cues.

“Well we live underground. Can Santa find us if we live underground?” She continued.

Clearly this was something she had been thinking about all day and not just a last minute thought to get out of falling asleep.

“Santa knows where everyone lives.” Was her only response. 

“But how? We don’t have a chimney for him to come down? Or really any house at all! What if he passes over us cause he forgets we live here?”

The parents could see she was starting to get worked up over her worries, something neither of them wanted.

“Santa would never forget about you.” He quickly said trying to think on the spot.

Their daughter always kept them on their toes with her antics and ideas. Sometimes she was too smart for her own good and ended up worrying herself more than she had to.

“How do you know?” She countered.

“Has he ever forgotten you before?” She asked back quickly.

The four year old shook her head no.

“Then why would this year be any different?”

Again the child had no words and only shrugged her shoulders.

“You have nothing to worry about Lydia. Santa would never forget about you. He knows that you are a very special girl and not having a chimney or a house isn’t going to stop him from visiting”

The child still didn’t look convinced though as she looked at both her parents trying to find a counter argument.

“We promise Lydia that when you wake up in the morning Santa will have arrived with tons of presents for you.”

“You do?” She asked in a worried tone.

“Yes, but the only way to see if our promise will come true is for you to go to sleep.”

He gently pushed her down and once again tucked the covers around her.

“Will you sing to me?” She asked in such a sweet and innocent tone they couldn’t say no.

“What do you want?” Her mother asked.

“A Christmas song please.”

“A Christmas song?” She had to pause for a moment to think. All day long they had been signing and dancing to upbeat songs, ones that would not be helpful in calming a child. 

Finally something popped into her mind. She didn’t know what was the reason for that song, but it was the only one that resembled a lullaby so it would have to do. 

As she ran a soothing hand over the brown curls she began to sing, “Greeting cards have all been sent. The Christmas rush is through. But I still have one wish to make. A special one for you.”

On the you she playfully bopped her daughter on the nose causing her to giggle and finally a smile appeared on her face.

“Daddy sing too!” She demanded.

“You know Daddy doesn’t sing bug.” He reminded her.

“Please Daddy.” She begged.

It was hard to resist her and those big blue eyes and he let out a groan.

“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

His partner smiled up at him. She knew he wasn’t a fan of singing, but when their daughter was upset he was willing to do anything to calm her. So mother and father continued to sing the second verse. Their daughter looked up at them with wide eyes her attention fully on their voices. By the chorus she was singing along with them too unable to be a passive participant anymore.

They let the original leader finish off the last verse by herself, both of them wrapped in the soothing sound of her voice. After all she was the best singer of them all. The parents had a strong feeling their daughter inherited that talent from her too. She had a pretty good singing voice for a four year old and the mother knew she was going to have a lot of fun nourishing that talent. 

“I wish I were with you.” She sang out the final line, her voice just above a whisper.

The child’s eyes were finally closed and didn’t seem to be opening up again.

“Good night Lydia, we love you.” She whispered.

“Love you too.” Their daughter mumbled back before finally falling asleep.

Both parents gave her a final kiss and tip toed out of the bedroom.

“What took you guys so long?” Their friend asked when the pair finally entered back into the living room. “Did Lydia go down okay?”

Everyone must have noticed the long faces on the parents because the mood in the room changed.

“Lydia asked us if a Santa was coming tonight because she was worried that he didn’t know where we live since we’re in a bunker.” He explained with a sigh.

The room was silent unable to come up with a response. Living in a bunker was hard on all of them, but the toughest on the youngest member of the team. She had no idea what life was like outside these dingy four walls, except for the doctors office and the park. They all tried their best to make her life appear normal, but sometimes it was tough.

“What did you tell her?” Their other friend asked finally finding the words. 

“That Santa knows where everyone lives and he wouldn’t forget her.” She said with a scoff. 

Her partner sat down on the chair and she easily folded into his lap. The days activities and the conversation had drained her emotionally and physically.

“And she believed it?”

“Not really, but hopefully she’ll wake up tomorrow and see everything under the tree and know he came.” He added on.

More silence followed that. 

“I want to take out Rittenhouse this year, for good.” She spoke up so firmly that everyone looked at her in shock. “I don’t care what it takes, I want them gone.”

“We all do Lucy.” He said trying to comfort her. 

“No I am done with them! I am sick of having to raise our daughter in here because of them. No child should have the fears she does. And it’s not even about Santa. Every time we jump in that lifeboat she is afraid we won’t come home or of us being hurt. I just want to raise our daughter like everyone else. She’s growing so much and way too fast, I don’t want her missing out on anything else. Is that too much to ask?”

She was near tears at this point, but she took a shaky breath in trying to control them. 

“Of course it isn’t.” 

“Good, because that’s all want. This time next year I want us all to be above ground celebrating Christmas at someone’s house. Hopefully with a chimney, but that’s negotiable.”

“So our New Year’s Resolution is to defeat Rittenhouse for good.” Their friend chimed in trying to lighten the mood.

“Yes.” She smiled.

“Well then, here’s to a Merry a Christmas and our last one in this bunker.”

He picked a Christmas cookie off of the table and the other five adults copied him.

“Cheers.” They all laughed and clinked their cookies together.

As she but into her’s she finally felt at peace. She didn’t know how they were going to defeat their enemies for good, but she did know that this group who had become her family would do anything for her daughter. As a team they would find a way to get rid of Rittenhouse once and fir all, she had never felt more thankful for them.


	7. Five Years Old

It had happened, just like they said it would, they had defeated Rittenhouse before Christmas. It had come down to the wire, but the month before their opportunity come and they came out victorious. This year the team would get to celebrate the holiday above ground, and all of them were beyond thankful.

The family of three had taken their new found freedom to road trip across the country. After being cooped up for her entire life they wanted their daughter to see and experience more of the country. Their route took them along the south and up the east coast to see different locations of where their missions had taken them. They had flown back from New York to L.A. to visit their last, and probably most important, point of interest. 

They had driven back up to San Francisco and arrived home on December 23rd, there was no way they were going to miss spending their first Christmas above ground without their time team family. The family had spent the past two nights with their best friends in their apartment. It was a tight squeeze, but they were used to it.

Christmas morning started at the crack of dawn with their daughter screaming that Santa had come. The parents had to force her to lie back down and let her aunt and uncle sleep until at least the sun came up. She anxiously laid between her parents watching the window until they gave her the go ahead to barge into the bedroom.

The five year old bounced around the living room in her Christmas nightgown singing whatever Christmas carol came to mind as the adults sleepily prepared coffee and hot chocolate. 

“I’m pretty sure we could power the lifeboat with the amount of energy she has.” Their friend commented as he watched the flurry of activity in front of them.

“It is pretty impressive.” She laughed before taking a big sip of coffee hoping it would wake her up enough to survive her daughter’s energy level. 

Once everyone was settled with their drinks presents were handed out. The child loved passing them out to the adults just as much as she loved opening her own. 

Finally there were only two big boxes left, both with her name on them.

“Come here Lydia.” She said and pulled her daughter into her lap. 

The five year olds eyes shone with excitement over the two box boxes and it took a lot of coaxing to get her to focus solely on her mother.

“Now what’s in those boxes are very important. They were something Amy and I had when we were your age.” She explained.

“It was Amy’s!” She gasped. 

Of course her daughter knew all about her aunt, though not the circumstances of what happened to her. She loved looking at the picture around her mother’s neck and hearing stories about her. The older she got the more she looked like her too, something the five year old was very proud of. 

“Well it’s not the exact one Amy owned, but somehow I must have had it too because Daddy and I found them up in the attic of my old house. Now I need you to promise me you’ll take good care of what’s in those boxes. They are very special to Mommy and I think you are able to take care of them.”

Her daughter’s eyes grew wider with excitement, “I promise Mommy I’ll take the best care of them.”

“Good, now go see what’s inside.”

She let the child get off her lap and watched with delight as she tore open the wrapping paper.

“It’s American Girl Dolls! Molly and Samantha!” She cried after opening the box. She pulled out the two dolls, both in perfect condition of course. “Thank you Mommy I love them both so much!”

With both dolls tucked under her arms she ran and tackled her mother throwing both arms around her to give her a bear hug.

“I’m so glad you do.” She laughed hugging her daughter back.

The five year old settled herself back onto her mother’s lap never letting go of the dolls. “Which one was yours?”

“I had Molly and Amy had Samantha. Why don’t you go open that other box and see what’s inside?”

She handed the dolls to her mother and jumped off her lap to see what was in the other box.

“It’s their outfits and stuff and books!” The cried after opening the second box. “Oh my goodness Mommy all of these were yours?”

She let out a laugh, “they sure were, I used to save up all my allowance to buy them.”

“There’s even a matching dress for me!” She pulled out a green velvet dress.

“That would be Molly’s Christmas dress.”

“I’m going to put it on now. Daddy put on Molly’s!”

She threw the smaller version of the dress at her father and was about to strip off her night gown in front of everyone if her mother hadn’t told her to go to the bathroom to change. The father looked over at his fiancé confused on what to do.

“You heard her Daddy put the dress on.” Their guy friend laughed.

“How do I even do that?” He asked, “I don’t even know which one is Molly.”

“Give it to me.” His fiancé laughed taking the dress from his hands. 

“The one with the braids and glasses is Molly and the one the bow is Samantha.” Their other friend explained. Both men turned to look at her in surprise. “What? Every girl knows about American Girl dolls. And you better learn quick Wyatt because this is about to be your world.”

“Who did you have?” The other female asked not at all surprised.

“Kaya. She’s probably still at my mother’s house actually. Maybe I’ll gift her to Lydia for her birthday next year.”

“I think her head would explode if you did that.”

The little girl in question ran back into the living room shouting, “how do I look?”

“Beautiful.” All the adults cheered.

After a special Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls they spent the rest of the morning watching the five year old play with her gifts. Now that she was preoccupied they all took full advantage of it and rested up trying to catch up on the sleep they had missed out on the morning. 

Later that afternoon the group cleaned up the mess from that morning and headed out to their actual Christmas party. The rest of their team was meeting them at their bosses house. Once again no one was more excited than the five year old. She had missed everyone dearly on their trip and was over the moon about the thought of seeing them today.

The family of three drove in their own car, something that still excited the little girl, to the party. Of course the dolls came too, securely buckled into their own seatbelts and wearing their Christmas dresses. 

She practically flew out of the car and into the house where everyone was already waiting. Immediately she was in her grandmother’s arms chatting her ear off about her presents. The parents came behind her beaming with happiness over their daughter.

It wasn’t much of a party, more of a celebration really, for both freedom and Christmas. The adults tried to talk, but the five year old demanded all of their attention. No one had any idea how she still had as much energy as she did that morning. Her parents were waiting for the eventual crash, but it never came.

After desert everyone started to head out, which almost broke the child. They knew how much she loved being outside the bunker, but being surrounded by her family was the only thing she knew and it was still hard for her to grasp that they didn’t all live together.

“Hey love bug, we still have one more present.” Her father said before the tears could come.

“You do?” She asked in surprise.

“Yup! Now go say goodbye to everyone and put your shoes and jacket on.”

She nodded her head eagerly and followed her father’s directions. When she was ready and all the hugs and kisses were given she happily left the house with her parents.

“Is the present back at Aunt Jiya’s and Uncle Rufus’s?” She asked.

“Nope, we’re going on a little walk to see this present.” Her mother smiled and grasped her small hand.

“Is it a pony?” She asked next taking her father’s hand as well.

Her father looked surprised, “since when did you want a pony?”

“All girls want ponies Daddy.” She sighed over dramatically.

He looked up at his fiancé who nodded her head in agreement.

“Sorry, it’s not a pony.”

She continued to walk in silence, a serious look upon her face as she tried to think of what this mysterious gift could be.

“Are you ready bug?” The father asked as the family slowed down.

“Yes!”

“Close your eyes then.”

She eagerly closed her eyes and allowed her parents to lead her for the last few steps. 

“Now open.” Her mother instructed.

The family stood on the front lawn of a whites house complete with Christmas lights and a red bow on the door. The child looked up at her parents confused.

“This is our home Lydia.” Her mother explained.

“Our home?”

“Yes, right before we left Daddy and I found this house and bought it. And while we were away everyone helped get a few rooms ready for us.”

“This is our house? We have a house?”

Both parents nodded their head yes. Neither of them were prepared for the shrieks of excitement that came out of the little girl. 

“Thank you thank you thank you!” She continued to shout.

They crouched down to her level so that she could give both of them a hug.

“Can we go inside?” She asked next.

“Of course I got the key right here.” He answered pulling it out of his coat pocket.

“Then let’s go!”

She started to make a run for it, but he had a firm grip on her arm.

“I believe it is a custom for the man to carry his girl across the threshold.” She giggled with excitement as he picked her up. “You too Mommy.”

“No you don’t have too…”

But it was too late, he had already grabbed and picked her up causing more shrieks of laughter. Easily he walked across the lawn and managed to get the door unlocked where he finally set down the two most important people in his life. 

“What do you think Lydie?” The mother asked.

“I love it!” She cried as she twirled in the middle of entry way.

“We still have a lot of work to do in here, but I think there is a room upstairs that is all ready for you.”

Her eyes lit up at that and she bolted up the stairs. The parents followed quickly behind wanting to see her reaction.

“I have my own room!” She screamed again easily finding the one that was her’s.

She turned on the light to illuminate the bedroom and stood in the doorway in complete shock and awe.

“Look I have my own big girl bed! And look there’s my new sewing machine and look an actual vanity!” She ran around overly excited about every little detail and pointing them out to her parents.

“And our room is right across the hallway from yours.” Her father explained.

She bolted from that room to check out the other room and quickly came back after.

“You have a big bed too! And it’s one big bed, not two little ones pushed together. Like in the hotel rooms.”

“Yeah, we’re pretty excited about that too.” He laughed.

“Do we get to stay here tonight?”

The mother nodded her head yes, “Dede put some food in the fridge for us and all our clothes that we didn’t take with us are here too.”

“Best Christmas ever!” She shouted loudly and spun around her bedroom so hard that she fell that she the floor in a heap of giggles.

The parents joined her on the floor and picked her up for another hug. They shared a look over her head in agreement with her, though they were able to contain their excitement a little better than a five year old.

“Welcome home Lydia.” She whispered into her daughter’s hair.

She felt the tears start to pool in her eyes. It had taken a long time, but they had finally made it. She, her soon to be husband, and daughter finally had a place above ground to call their own and she couldn’t wait to see what their new adventures would bring.


	8. Three Months Old

She never thought she would be this type of mom. The kind of mom she saw all over Instagram who took constant pictures of their babies in perfect outfits writing all about how perfect their life was. She had always found them annoying and never understood the point of their countless posts, or at least that was until she had a baby of her own.

While she did not have any sort of social media account to share updates on, she still found herself taking thousands of pictures of her daughter. At one time she would have laughed at the monthly updates of the baby’s growth, but now she knew she was going to take a picture on the 18th of every month to see how much her daughter changed.

She hadn’t even planned on being the mom who Pintersted crafts and baby ideas, but once again motherhood had changed her. When February 1st came around she knew she wanted to make Valentine’s Day special for her family. What once was a stupid holiday in her eyes had suddenly become something she wanted to celebrate and focus on the love she had for her partner and daughter.

It had actually been simple to search the internet for ideas on how to make the holiday special and keep it a secret. The siren had been blaring more often these past few days making her boyfriend and friends have to jump in the lifeboat and save history. It left her with a lot of free time and worry for her team.

While she had her other friends and daughter to keep her calm, her mind would be racing with fear until the lifeboat landed back in the present. No one could blame for her for searching Pinterest for baby hacks and crafts. It was one of the few things that kept her fully distracted, well that and when her daughter decided to test out her lungs. The mother wasn’t the only one who missed their man when he was out hunting bad guys. 

While she was itching to be back out there with him, she loved every moment she got with her daughter and was dreading the day her maternity leave ended. She knew the day was coming soon and made sure to soak up all the alone time she had with the baby. When the team was on a mission her daughter was by her side from the moment the lifeboat left to the moment it came home. She was her main connection to him and it eased her anxiety every time she looked over and saw those big blue eyes and gummy smile.

The day before Valentine’s Day had the team out once again on a mission. She hated that he was away, but it gave her time to finish his present. There wasn’t any real way for them to buy each other gifts. The only time they ventured into the outside world was to go to the doctor’s, so there wasn’t any real way for her to go shopping. Plus she knew he didn’t need anything material, it would only be a waste of what limited space they had. She wanted to make him something more meaningful, hence the hours spent on Pinterest. 

The lifeboat had landed back in their timeline in the middle of the night, just in time for their daughter’s middle of the night feeding. They gave a brief update on how the mission went before he hit the showers. Even though he was exhausted she knew that he wanted to spend some time with the baby before he crashed. 

Of course the almost three month old was dressed in Valentine’s Day pajamas. He had eagerly picked her up to cuddle and kiss her before passing her over for her meal. No words were needed, both were too tired to speak, for very different reasons, and chose to cuddle with each other on the bed and watch their daughter eat.

Once she was finished he took her back to burp her and help rock the baby back to sleep, though he ended up falling asleep as well. She quickly pulled out her phone to snap a picture of father and daughter passed out together, the same sleepy pouts on their lips. Carefully she took the infant from his arms to place her in the crib. 

“I’m awake.” He mumbled sleepily without opening his eyes.

“Of course you are.” She laughed as she rejoined him back in the bed. 

Easily she curled her body into his and rested her head on his chest. 

“I love you.” He said and kissed the top of her head.

“I love you too.” She said back. “Now please go to sleep.”

He sighed in agreement and it wasn’t long before she felt his breaths even out. Her eyes fluttered shut as well letting the soothing sounds of her family lull her to sleep.

She woke up on Valentine’s Day to her daughter’s whimpers. While she wished more than anything cuddle closer into her boyfriend’s chest and fall back asleep, she knew those whimpers would turn into cries if she didn’t get up. Carefully so not to disturb the sleeping man beside her she eased herself out of bed and tiptoed to the crib. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She whispered and picked up the infant to give her a kiss on the head. 

The pair sat in the chair they kept in their room for their morning feeding and it allowed her time to watch the man she loved sleep. It wasn’t often she was up before him and enjoyed watching how peaceful he looked in their bed. She wanted him to stay that way for as long as possible and allow him to catch up on the rest he so desperately needed.

Once her daughter was finished she changed her into a Valentine’s Day outfit, a cute little red dress with white hearts all over it. Of course there was matching headband in her dark hair. Again she was surprised at her desire to dress the baby in these holiday outfits. But baby clothes shopping had become a new addiction of hers and she couldn’t deny herself the simple pleasure in dressing her daughter in a well planned outfit, even if would only ended up dirty by her next meal.

The pair tiptoed out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to get him a cup of coffee and her a cup of tea. As much as she would have loved to bring him breakfast in bed, she knew her limits and did not want to ruin the holiday by making him suffer with her cooking. 

It didn’t surprise her to see him starting to wake up when they entered the room again. He had told her he couldn’t sleep as well when his girls weren’t in the room with him.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She said as soon as his eyes locked on them.

He gave her a sleepy smile and mumbled, “Happy Valentine’s Day” back. 

“Coffee?” she asked walking over to his side of the bed to hand him the cup.

“Yes please.” He eagerly grasped it and took a long sip. “Thank you.”

He took another sip and held out his hands indicating that he wanted their daughter. She open up her arms and allowed him to take the baby out of the sling that was around her chest. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day to you too.” he said and gave her a kiss on the head.

The three month old gave him a big smile causing both of them to smile. She was becoming more interactive with them now and they were loving every smile and movement they could get out of her.

“Where’s my kiss?” she asked pouting her lips.

“My mistake.” He said and leaned over to give her a long passionate kiss. “Better?”

“Much.”

“I see we have another outfit planned out.” he joked looking down at the dress the baby was wearing.

“Shut up.” she playfully swatted at him.

“I’m surprised she isn’t in a baby’s first Valentine’s onesie or one of that says mommy or daddy’s valentine.”

“Oh trust me I was tempted to get them and Jiya wasn’t the best influence on me either. But I figured I should go with something a little less cheesy that Lydia can wear again.”

“Because a dress covered in hearts isn’t over kill at all.”

“Don’t listen to your Daddy Lydie, you look perfect for the holiday.” She told the baby.

“And don’t let Mommy influence you too much bug, one day you’ll be able to pick out your own outfits.”

She shot him a dirty look. No one loved to tease her more than him about her newest habits. 

“If you’re going to keep being this mean I don’t think you deserve your gift.”

“You got me a gift?” he asked genuinely surprised. 

“Well we didn’t get you one, but we did make you a little something while you were off chasing bad guys in the past. You’ll only get it if you promise not to make fun of us and our outfit choices.”

“I promise.” He even went as far as to cross his heart. 

She got out of bed to grab the envelope from its hiding spot and eagerly handed it to him. His eyes shone with excitement as he tore open the present and pulled on the craft from inside.

“Did you find this on Pinterest?” he asked as he looked at the card in his hands.

“Yes I did and you promised you wouldn’t make fun of me anymore.”

“I’m not I swear! I just still can’t believe you are the crafty type now.”

“Believe me I can’t either! But I have to spend all my free time doing something since I can’t go on missions yet. Now open it up!”

In his hands was a ladybug card and when tears instantly came to his eyes as he slid the wings open to see a picture of their baby along with the words “from your little love bug”.

“I’ve know you call Lydia bug or love bug and saw this and knew we had to try and make it for you. Her hands were to small to trace so I had Jiya use mine, but the black dots are Lydia’s fingerprints. Do you like it?”

“I love it, thank you both so much.” He leaned forward to give her a kiss and then leaned down to give their baby one. 

“Even though it’s from Pinterest.” She teased. 

“I don’t think I will ever understand the obsession, but if you two keep giving me cards like this I don’t think I’ll ever complain again.”

“Good because I don’t think it’s ending anytime soon.”

“I wish I could have gotten you something.”

“You being here all day long is all I need.”

“Too bad we can’t have a night alone to properly celebrate, but I don’t think Jiya and Rufus would be willing to take her tonight.”

“We don’t need a Hallmark holiday to celebrate our love, we’ll find another day to do it. And maybe another way too.” she looked down sheepishly at her hands. 

“Hey you know I’m willing to wait until you’re ready right?” he asked putting a finger under her chin to lift her eyes up to meet his. “There is no rush on anything.”

“I know.” She smiled and leaned over to kiss him. “And I promise that day is coming soon and when it does come I am forcing Jiya and Rufus to take Lydia and won’t take no for an answer.”

He couldn’t help but laugh, “I can’t wait for that day to come.”

She smiled back and leaned over once again to steal another kiss. 

“So do you have any other fun Pinterest planned ideas for the day?” he asked.

She shook her head no and looked down at their daughter and ran her fingers through her soft hair. 

“Just spending the day with my two favorite people and telling them over and over again how much I love them.”

“Sounds like a perfect way to celebrate our first Valentine’s Day.”


End file.
